The Weird Weekend, the largest predominantly cryptozoological conference in the English Speaking world is only five months away. You can read all about the 2009 event, and buy tickets, at http://www.weirdweekend.org/ or by clicking on the logo at the top of the page. Corinna will be covering the preparations for the event, and profiling the speakers over on Her Blog and there will be lots of other fun stuff in the months to come. However, completely unprovoked, Mike Hallowell, who was one of the speakers at the first event, relives his memories over five mornings this week...Don't believe a bloody word..
Every profession has its risks and drawbacks. If you’re a GP, then your patient might suddenly snot all over you and hey, presto, you now have whatever it is that they came to see you about in the first place. Being an aircraft pilot is fine, until the panel in front of you starts to flash with an ominous, red light, telling you that the autogizmo on the Weinbacher advanced warning floobel has shorted out, and that you now have thirty seconds in which to recalibrate the furgling circuit or you, your crew and the rest of the passengers will become shark bait in the Indian Ocean.
And then there are we Paranormal Investigators. Believe me, when it comes to hazards, the rest of the workaday world doesn't know horseshit. Let me take you on a tour of some of the difficulties we encounter as we traverse our darkling world of unexplained phenomena.
During my time in the police service I made my fair share of arrests. Give me a burgled house, and I’d try and find you the burglar. Show me the female victim of domestic violence and I’d make every effort to collar the bastard who dished it out. Over 90% of murderers are caught. Why? Because the police know who they’re looking for and what they’re dealing with. It’s just a matter of collating the evidence, interpreting it correctly and working with what you know. But the world of paranormal phenomena is different. Paranormal Investigators do not work with what they know, but rather with what they don’t know. They work in a world where the essence is dark and the shadows are light, where the unseen dwarfs the visible and solid facts are as fireflies darting around the interior of a vast cavern. Hence, when it comes to professional hazards, we encounter some very strange things indeed.
Problem numero uno is that of nut-jobs. The paranormal world is filled with them. By virtue of the nature of our craft, one actually has to be something of a nutter to make any headway. And so it was, in that sedate little pub in the heart of Exeter, that the world's finest assortment of loonies gathered to talk about all things weird and wonderful for an entire weekend.
During the next two days, at a nearby village hall, we congregated in front of a large audience to pontificate about ghosts, UFOs, psychic phenomena, witchcraft, mysterious animals and a load of other arcane stuff which escapes me now.
The first Weird Weekend was an enlightening experience, and I mean that in a truly spiritual sense. THE CFZ were genial hosts, and I will always be proud of the fact that I gave the first talk at what has become the country's premier paranormal fest bar none. I returned to the Frozen North exhausted, but well satisfied. Indeed, I was a changed man. Future Weird Weekends beckoned, but the first will always be something special. Perhaps I should end this blog forthwith, as I am becoming misty-eyed and overly romantic. I also need to take a pee, although I assure you this is not the main reason for terminating.
Weird Weekend? Approved!
And then there are we Paranormal Investigators. Believe me, when it comes to hazards, the rest of the workaday world doesn't know horseshit. Let me take you on a tour of some of the difficulties we encounter as we traverse our darkling world of unexplained phenomena.
During my time in the police service I made my fair share of arrests. Give me a burgled house, and I’d try and find you the burglar. Show me the female victim of domestic violence and I’d make every effort to collar the bastard who dished it out. Over 90% of murderers are caught. Why? Because the police know who they’re looking for and what they’re dealing with. It’s just a matter of collating the evidence, interpreting it correctly and working with what you know. But the world of paranormal phenomena is different. Paranormal Investigators do not work with what they know, but rather with what they don’t know. They work in a world where the essence is dark and the shadows are light, where the unseen dwarfs the visible and solid facts are as fireflies darting around the interior of a vast cavern. Hence, when it comes to professional hazards, we encounter some very strange things indeed.
Problem numero uno is that of nut-jobs. The paranormal world is filled with them. By virtue of the nature of our craft, one actually has to be something of a nutter to make any headway. And so it was, in that sedate little pub in the heart of Exeter, that the world's finest assortment of loonies gathered to talk about all things weird and wonderful for an entire weekend.
During the next two days, at a nearby village hall, we congregated in front of a large audience to pontificate about ghosts, UFOs, psychic phenomena, witchcraft, mysterious animals and a load of other arcane stuff which escapes me now.
The first Weird Weekend was an enlightening experience, and I mean that in a truly spiritual sense. THE CFZ were genial hosts, and I will always be proud of the fact that I gave the first talk at what has become the country's premier paranormal fest bar none. I returned to the Frozen North exhausted, but well satisfied. Indeed, I was a changed man. Future Weird Weekends beckoned, but the first will always be something special. Perhaps I should end this blog forthwith, as I am becoming misty-eyed and overly romantic. I also need to take a pee, although I assure you this is not the main reason for terminating.
Weird Weekend? Approved!
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